As a Resident Artist at Goodwill Art Studio and Gallery, Cody F. Miller (Illustration,1995) guides artists with disabilities, helping them land exhibitions at galleries across the city.

Tell us about your career and what you do now.

I’ve worked as an art instructor for 23 years now, first at United Cerebral Palsy of Central Ohio before we merged with Goodwill Columbus Art Studio and Gallery. I work with artists with physical and developmental disabilities and other barriers, including finding ways for them to sell and show their work.

I'm also a practicing artist, and the central theme of my own work revolves around what the word “grace” means to me. I am represented at the Hayley Gallery in New Albany, and I exhibit at art festivals and take on illustration and commission projects throughout the year.

Q&A

Why do you do what you do?

I’ve always liked making art, but I didn’t want to be isolated in a space making it all by myself. Through the vehicle of art, I’ve found a way to help transform people’s lives, and, at the same time, I’m usually able to spend about 12 hours a week working on my own art.

How can art change the world?

It starts with you. When you see how it changes you, you can more effectively share that with others.

What’s been your favorite success story?

PBS’s Broad and High did a special on one of the artists I worked with, Charlotte McGraw. It took me five years of nagging to get her in the studio. In her work, she’s built this whole utopia, Charlottesville, a make-believe town where misfits or people who feel invisible can become an integral part of society.